Open Standards in Procurement

Open standards in procurement means requiring that technology solutions conform to technical specifications that are publicly available, developed through an open and transparent process, and usable without restrictive licensing conditions. For public sector buyers across Europe, mandating open standards is both a procurement policy tool and a digital sovereignty strategy: it prevents government systems from becoming captive to a single supplier and ensures that data, services, and infrastructure can interoperate across organisational and national boundaries.

What are open standards in procurement?

An open standard is a technical specification published by a recognised standards body (such as ISO, W3C, IETF, or ETSI) under terms that allow any implementer to use it without paying royalties or accepting restrictive conditions. Common examples include PDF for document exchange, HTML and CSS for web content, REST and JSON for APIs, OpenDocument Format (ODF) for office documents, and IMAP/SMTP for email.

In procurement, specifying open standards means requiring that systems use these published formats and protocols rather than proprietary alternatives. This has several practical effects: data can be migrated to a different supplier's system at contract end, different systems can exchange data without custom integration, and new suppliers can enter the market without needing to reverse-engineer proprietary formats.

The European Commission has promoted open standards through its European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and the Interoperable Europe Act. EU Directive 2014/24/EU supports open standards through its provisions on technical specifications (Article 42), which require that specifications reference European or international standards rather than specific products or proprietary protocols. In the UK, the Government Digital Service maintains a list of approved open standards that all public sector technology must comply with, covering document formats, data exchange, identity, and security.

Interoperability requirements in procurement are closely related: open standards are typically the mechanism through which interoperability is achieved. The technology code of practice in the UK explicitly requires public bodies to use open standards.

Why it matters for bidders

For suppliers, open standards compliance is both a market access requirement and a competitive signal. Buyers who mandate open standards will exclude products that rely on proprietary formats for core functions. Suppliers should audit their products for proprietary dependencies, document which open standards their systems implement, and ensure that data export and API documentation is publicly available.

Open source software often (but not always) aligns with open standards. Buyers may prefer or mandate open source components, particularly for core infrastructure, but the key procurement requirement is standards compliance rather than open source licensing per se.

Example

A European government ministry specifies that its new human resources system must store employee records in XML formats conforming to the HR-XML standard, expose APIs using OpenAPI 3.0 specifications, and support OAuth 2.0 for authentication. A supplier whose system uses a proprietary binary format for data storage and a custom API protocol is unable to comply and is excluded from the competition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a buyer specify a particular product by name if it is based on open standards?

No. EU procurement law prohibits specifications that name a specific product or supplier unless justified by the nature of the contract and accompanied by the words "or equivalent." Specifying open standards achieves the buyer's interoperability objectives without restricting competition to a single supplier's product.

What is the difference between open standards and open source in procurement?

Open standards are technical specifications available for any implementer to use. Open source refers to software whose source code is published under a licence permitting reuse and modification. A product can implement open standards while being proprietary software, and open source software can implement proprietary protocols. In procurement, open standards compliance is typically the mandatory requirement; open source preferences may be expressed as desirable but not mandatory criteria.

How do buyers enforce open standards compliance during contract delivery?

Buyers should include specific open standards requirements as contract deliverables, with acceptance criteria tied to compliance. Regular technical reviews, penetration test reports, and API documentation audits can verify ongoing compliance. Exit clauses should require data delivery in specified open formats to enforce portability at contract end.